Hollywood isn’t the only industry that is being hurt by online piracy. It turns out that the pornography industry isn’t exactly happy about it either, as profits have shrunk in recent years. But parodies - especially ones based on superheroes - are helping to lift the industry out of the doldrums.
As the Associated Press pointed out last week, Vivid Entertainment - the same company that released Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham’s sex tape earlier this year - has just released Man of Steel XXX: A Porn Parody, just after Warner Bros. released Man of Steel. While it only cost $100,000 (compared to the $200 million+ that WB spent), it was one of the most expensive porn films of 2013. Vivid is hoping that it does as well as Batman XXX: A Porn Parody, which was 2010’s best-selling porn film.
These expensive (at least in porn terms) films have intricate costumes, actors that actually try to do more than have sex and special effects. Mark Kernes of Adult Video News told the AP that the industry is hoping that these parodies boost an industry that once brought in $12 billion a year. With online piracy now a problem, it’s down to $7 billion now.
“We certainly do have a problem with piracy ... and sadly no one seems to be able to do anything about it,” Kearnes told the AP.
If you’re wondering if this is all legal...well, of course it is. It’s protected under the First Amendment like any other parody. None of the companies that have made these parodies have been sued.
“Mainstream porn, from a copyright protection, from a First Amendment protection, is essentially the same as any other form of written expression,” entertainment lawyer David Ginsburg noted. “The rules of parody apply as equally to porn as they do to any other form of parody, like Saturday Night Live or Mad Magazine.”
Here’s the trailer for Man of Steel XXX:
image: YouTube